136
All this suggests that more stress will lead to more intensity of crevasses and
vice versa.
Though at present we are more concerned about the ongoing climate change
which has a negative effect on the surface of the Earth at each stage, emphasis
should also be given on the processes by which the climate change can be reversed,
similar to the proposal floated by climate scientists to stop the carbon from reaching
the atmosphere and to remove the carbon from the atmosphere. The new challenges
that arise from the currently observed climate changes demand integrated cryospheric observation and modeling approaches of glaciers, study of stress and crevasse patterns related impacts. Such work can be immensely benefitted by new earth
observation and geo-informatics technologies. Because of the improvements and
availability of numerous datasets and data analysis, wider geographical coverage,
better understanding of uncertainties with the help of a different variety of instruments and measurements, a great deal of information on how climate is changing in
space and in time can be obtained. In this regard, a Time series analysis of climate
change should be carried out with an objective to identify the nature of the phenomenon represented by the sequence of past and present observations and forecasting
for the future. To achieve these objectives, interdisciplinary collaborations between
scientists, statisticians, modeling and earth observation experts, policy makers as
well as the dissemination of methods across field sequences should be carried out
regularly. The change in the dynamics of the Polar ice sheet due to climate change
scenario should be studied in more detail by repeat observations in every 2–3 years.
Acknowledgements The author thanks the Director General, Geological Survey of India (GSI)
and Director, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) for permission to work in
Antarctica during the winter period of 27th Indian Antarctic Expedition (IAE) as well as the summer period of 29th, 30th, 32nd, 34th and 36th expeditions. He is grateful to Shri Arun Chaturvedi,
leader of 27th IAE, for supporting and guiding him throughout the polar winter period in Antarctica
as well as the leaders of the subsequent expeditions for facilitating the work for the studies on Polar
ice sheet. He also acknowledges the logistic support provided by the staff and fellow expedition
members at Maitri station. The Director and officers of Polar Studies Division are acknowledged
for providing assistance in the work at headquarters. The guidance of Prof. S. Goswami, Sambalpur
University and the support of Dr. Reenu Joshi, GSI in writing this manuscript are acknowledged.
The author also expresses his gratitude to the anonymous reviewer for valuable comments in the
upgradation of the manuscript.
References
Arcone SA, Daniel EL, Allan JD (1995) Short pulse radar wavelet recovery and resolution of
dielectric contrasts within englacial and basal ice of Matanuska Glacier, Alaska, USA. J
Glaciol 41:68–86
Benn DI, Warren CR, Mottram RH (2007) Calving processes and the dynamics of calving glaciers.
Earth Sci Rev 82(3–4):143–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2007.02.002
Church JA, White NJ (2006) A 20th century acceleration in global sea level rise. Geophys Res Lett
33(L01602):1–4. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL024826
A. K. Swain
All this suggests that more stress will lead to more intensity of crevasses and
vice versa.
Though at present we are more concerned about the ongoing climate change
which has a negative effect on the surface of the Earth at each stage, emphasis
should also be given on the processes by which the climate change can be reversed,
similar to the proposal floated by climate scientists to stop the carbon from reaching
the atmosphere and to remove the carbon from the atmosphere. The new challenges
that arise from the currently observed climate changes demand integrated cryospheric observation and modeling approaches of glaciers, study of stress and crevasse patterns related impacts. Such work can be immensely benefitted by new earth
observation and geo-informatics technologies. Because of the improvements and
availability of numerous datasets and data analysis, wider geographical coverage,
better understanding of uncertainties with the help of a different variety of instruments and measurements, a great deal of information on how climate is changing in
space and in time can be obtained. In this regard, a Time series analysis of climate
change should be carried out with an objective to identify the nature of the phenomenon represented by the sequence of past and present observations and forecasting
for the future. To achieve these objectives, interdisciplinary collaborations between
scientists, statisticians, modeling and earth observation experts, policy makers as
well as the dissemination of methods across field sequences should be carried out
regularly. The change in the dynamics of the Polar ice sheet due to climate change
scenario should be studied in more detail by repeat observations in every 2–3 years.
Acknowledgements The author thanks the Director General, Geological Survey of India (GSI)
and Director, National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) for permission to work in
Antarctica during the winter period of 27th Indian Antarctic Expedition (IAE) as well as the summer period of 29th, 30th, 32nd, 34th and 36th expeditions. He is grateful to Shri Arun Chaturvedi,
leader of 27th IAE, for supporting and guiding him throughout the polar winter period in Antarctica
as well as the leaders of the subsequent expeditions for facilitating the work for the studies on Polar
ice sheet. He also acknowledges the logistic support provided by the staff and fellow expedition
members at Maitri station. The Director and officers of Polar Studies Division are acknowledged
for providing assistance in the work at headquarters. The guidance of Prof. S. Goswami, Sambalpur
University and the support of Dr. Reenu Joshi, GSI in writing this manuscript are acknowledged.
The author also expresses his gratitude to the anonymous reviewer for valuable comments in the
upgradation of the manuscript.
References
Arcone SA, Daniel EL, Allan JD (1995) Short pulse radar wavelet recovery and resolution of
dielectric contrasts within englacial and basal ice of Matanuska Glacier, Alaska, USA. J
Glaciol 41:68–86
Benn DI, Warren CR, Mottram RH (2007) Calving processes and the dynamics of calving glaciers.
Earth Sci Rev 82(3–4):143–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2007.02.002
Church JA, White NJ (2006) A 20th century acceleration in global sea level rise. Geophys Res Lett
33(L01602):1–4. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL024826
A. K. Swain